High Country Times

Wilkes County joined the small list of North Carolina jurisdictions that are reporting COVID-19 cases at meat plants.

Since April 24, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Communication Managers Sarah Lewis Peel said that eight counties, Wake included, reported a total of 262 coronavirus cases at 10 plants, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported on April 25.

Health officials did not specifically identify the facilities hit by the virus as doing so would violate the state’s Reportable Disease Confidentiality statute, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported. 

Derek Burleson, Tyson Foods public relations manager, said the fluidity of the outbreak keeps his company from sharing detailed information about coronavirus cases but asserts most of the plants do not have any cases, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported. Tyson has a plant in Wilkes County. 

The state is home to more than 20 large meat processing plants, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported. The Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported that close to 200 workers at five of those facilities were stricken with the illness.

In response to the coronavirus’s effects on the meat supply sector, the Department of Health and Human Services implemented guidelines for food processing facilities based on those from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported. 

Burleson said Tyson is strictly enforcing workplace safety measures, stating that employees are practicing social distancing and engaging in proper hand sanitation and hygiene techniques, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported.

Scott Baucom at Fence Row Farms told WBTV that Tyson’s warning about millions of pounds of meat going missing from the U.S. supply chain could trigger a lengthy waiting game. Tyson’s status as “a big integrator with the poultry and the beef industry” makes the warning a cause for alarm, according to Baucom.